Elisa is back, and she's the queen, but she's not perfect. She doesn't always know the right decision to make. She's young and has a lot to learn. And she really grows in a realistic way throughout The Crown of Embers. I really enjoyed following her development.
I enjoyed the side characters a lot more in The Crown of Embers. We get to know Mara and Ximena a lot better. And Hector, well, what can I say? The PERFECT guy. I'm not a "swooner," but I must admit I really fell for Hector.
Poor Elisa is in constant danger. Someone is trying to kill her, and there are so many choices for bad guys! It could be anybody, and all is not revealed until the very end.
The tension builds slowly. By the end I was kind of jumping out of my skin to finish. I thought there were a few parts towards the beginning that dragged a bit, but that's really my only (very picky) complaint. Everything I said above is what I loved. Elisa's maturing, the secondary characters, the (maybe) romance. Carson just does a great job with the plot, characters, and writing.
Once again -- a great ending. The ending of an episode. No huge cliff hanger, but much more story to come. This is a series as it should be written (I think I said that in my review of The Girl of Fire and Thorns too!) I'll still say I'm not a fantasy fan, but these books have enough adventure and plotting and characters that just draws me in, so that I can't put the book down. I love it when I feel this way about a book.
As you can probably tell, I think it's well worth your time to read BOTH of the books in the series. The Crown of Embers in no way disappoints, and if you enjoyed The Girl of Fire and Thorns stop putting off reading the second book!
I've already been passing around The Girl of Fire and Thorns to any teen that will listen to me, and The Crown of Embers will be right behind it. I know I won't have to push the second one, once they've read the first.
Published by Greenwillow, September 18, 2012
Copy obtained from Shannon, my Secret Santa!
410 pages
Rating: 4.5/5
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Great review. I loved the first book, I thought I would like it but it went way beyond my expectations. I can't wait to read this book!
ReplyDeleteI was so, so relieved when I read this book and discovered it didn't have that second book syndrome. Just a fabulous series, can't wait for more!
ReplyDeleteLOVED this book! In some ways, I liked it better than the first (though I have big hearts for the first). Elisa is such a great character. I can't wait to see what happens next.
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